Blood on the Stockroom Floor
by lxk
Summary: AltSTD. Kim and Ron, tied up, when a visitor shows up. What happens, why and how will it affect their relationship? Rated for some violence and themes. Reviews welcome.
1. Almost said it

_**Author's note: The characters are not mine. They belong to Disney. Except Dr. Clive Eycholls, but I'm not making any money off him. **_

_**This is not part of my "Our aim is true"-series, just so you know. It is an alt-std-fic. Two differences, besides the obvious one: Ron and Kim are tied closer to the ground, and Rufus has had a hard time navigating through the air ducts.**_

_**And reviews are, as always, welcome. And, as usual, comments on language are encouraged since this isn't my first language.**_

**Blood on the Stockroom Floor**

"But I wanted to." Kim seemed embarrassed to say the words. Ron was a bit taken with her statement, at to a great extent; it hurt him to hear it, even if he knew that things had seriously changed.

"Ok, too much info. So, what's the plan?" He said, trying to change the subject. He knew that they could probably get out of this sitch. They were tied to the giant Bueno Nacho models, but he could almost touch his feet to the ground, if he pointed his foot straight down and reached.

"Ron, I… I got nothing." Kim was spent. The shock that she had lived through weighed too heavy on her mind for her to do anything.

"That's my line, and what's worse, that's quitter talk!" Ron raised his voice. This was not the Kim he was used to, and he wasn't going to take her giving up this easy.

"Drakken finally won. I should have stuck to babysitting!" Beaten by Drakken… A guy who usually was so clueless it was a wonder he ever managed to put on his shoes without tying his fingers into the knot. A guy who tried to take over the world with a lousy rap song! And he had beaten her!

"Alright, KP, this pity fiesta is over. Drakken has not won, he played you! Now it's payback time!" Ron knew that this was it. If he couldn't get through to her, it would all be for nothing. Something else crept into his mind. This wasn't really about Drakken beating her, it was about Eric. He had seemed like a good guy, and had come along when she needed someone, someone who… who wasn't Ron Stoppable. Someone to hold hands with and go to the prom with. Ron had realized that he wanted to be that person in Kim's life, but hadn't had the courage to say it. He took a breath. He would have wanted to say it somewhere else, but he realized… If he said it now, she could at least be shocked out of her funk. He didn't have much hope that she would reciprocate, though. But this was it, he decided.

"And, you know… there are guys out there that are better for you than Eric."

"Really, Ron, I don't think you're qualified to talk", a voice suddenly spoke up. Ron and Kim looked over towards the door of the stockroom. In the doorway stood Eric, grinning. "I mean, you're the one who introduced us, remember?" He started moving towards them.

"What are you doing here Eric? Drakken wouldn't let you be there for his moment of glory?" Kim spat at him. Ron was silent, watching.

"Oh, I'm here to gloat. The takeover isn't gonna happen for at least twenty minutes, so I thought I'd have some fun first." He reached the disabled duo.

"You know, Kim, it doesn't have to end like this. I'm gonna get my own country when Drakken has taken over the world. You could come with me. I mean, you're irritating… stupid, well, gullible at least… and too goody-goody for my taste, but, hey, you are quite the looker. I'm sure I can tune the other stuff out." He grinned at her smugly.

"Ugh, so not gonna happen. I'd kick your ass the first chance I get", Kim responded, while rolling her eyes at him.

"Oh, I wouldn't want it any other way. I like your… feistiness."

"You just wait 'til I get out of these ropes", Kim said and struggled a bit with them as she said so, "And I'll show you how feisty I can be!" Eric chuckled.

"Oh, I'm sure you would. But you're tied up right now, so I guess I'll just have to see how feisty you can be when you're captive. Like a trial run." He inched closer to Kim's face.

"Hey!" Kim and Eric turned their heads towards Ron, who had spoken up. "And just what were you planning to do with me?" Eric looked intrigued.

"I hadn't really thought of that, Stoppable. Got any ideas?"

"Well, like you said, I'm the guy who introduced you, so I think I should have something. Maybe a free punch every day…" He said. Kim looked confused. Ron was giving Eric tips now?

"Heh, yeah, that sounds good. I'll come over, punch that stupid smile off your face and-"

"I meant", Ron interrupted sharply, "that I'd get to punch you, you moron. Or no, that wouldn't be fair. Maybe just a slap. Or is that too much too, I don't know?"

Eric was outright smiling now. He stepped towards Ron.

"You think you can take me, Ron? Really?"

"In. A. Heartbeat." Kim couldn't believe what she was hearing. Ron was actually was baiting him? Eric's face turned sour.

"Oh, that's rich. The sidekick cops an attitude. Well, since you suggested it…" Eric stepped up to Ron, and punched him in the gut. Normally Ron would have doubled over, but since he was tied up, that wasn't an option. Instead, Ron flinched, but didn't scream in pain.

"Eric, stop it! Leave him alone!" Kim yelled. She hated seeing Ron getting hurt, whatever it was that caused it.

"Yeah, Eric", Ron said, regaining his composure... "Do what she says. I mean, you're used to people telling you what to do, right?"

"What was that, Stoppable?" Now Eric couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"I said, that you're just another of Drakken's flunkies who can't make any decision for himself. Or, sorry, I didn't say that, but it's what I meant."

"You're one to talk. You follow her around like you're some-" Eric gritted his teeth as he spoke, but Ron interrupted him.

"Don't even try, syntho-wuss. I choose to go with her. When was the last time you did something you weren't programmed to do?" Ron asked the fake clone.

"I'm doing it right now", Eric said, and punched Ron in the face, on his right cheek.

"Ron, what are you doing? Don't make him angry, you don't know what-"

"SHUT UP; KIM!" Ron yelled. His face really hurt, but he tried not to show it. He looked over at her and stared angrily at her. "Pinocchio here can't do anything, he's just a goon. Which you should've picked up on, really." Kim gasped at Ron. She had never seen him like this before. Except for that time that he turned into Zorpox, he never raised his voice in anger at her. Eric punched Ron again before she could continue. This time, he drew blood, as Ron right eyebrow opened from the force. Blood started flowing down Ron's face as Eric spoke again.

"What… did you call me?"

"GOD, do you have syntho-goo in your ears? Oh, sorry, I forgot your ears are _made_ of syntho-goo. I called you Pinocchio, you big fake. Or don't you know what that means? Did Drakken forget to program that that into your big ugly head?" Ron voice was crackling with anger. It was raw and ugly. Eric punched him again, this time in the chest. He followed it up with two more. Kim's eyes were tearing up as she saw Ron visibly in pain, for the first time. He still hadn't called out in pain.

"You have no idea of how much I know, Ron. But I thought you'd be happy with me just knowing your name, since nobody else seems to care enough to learn it." Eric was losing his cool demeanour by the minute.

"Like I give a damn if some idiot like Drakken knows my name. The guy can't even take over the world without using some overrated batch of corn syrup like you as a vital piece of his plan." Ron was awarded with to more punches to his chest and two to his face. The blood from his eyebrow was still flowing into his face, and he spit blood out of his mouth as he spoke. When he was punched in the chest the second time, he made a gargling sound.

"Dr. Drakken is a great man, you… you… MORON!" Ron paused before he spoke. Kim watched intently at him. She shook her head, trying to silently tell him to stop it. Tears were almost falling down her cheeks now, but somehow, she was holding it back. Ron looked at her. For a second he looked sad, but then he got a defiant look. He stared back at Eric.

"And just who made you think that, fake boy?" Eric punched Ron's left cheek again, anger flowing through him like the syntho-goo he was made of. Ron looked back. He made a sound that resembled chuckling.

"You really think he's gonna give you a country? Greenland, maybe! You're just a discount clone, he doesn't care! You're just syntho-drone 901, just another number!" Eric punched Ron in the chest again, hard.

"I am not a number! I am-"

"-A free man? Yeah, right!" Eric punched Ron again, but was so angry he hit Ron's left shoulder. Ron winced; he had busted it during the fight earlier. This time, he wasn't so quick to respond. Kim decided to take the opportunity.

"Please, Eric! Don't… don't hurt him! I won't try to escape, just… just stop hurting him! Please!" Tears were falling down her face now. She couldn't bare seeing Ron in pain any longer than she already had. Eric turned around to look at her.

"Oh, come on, Pinocchio. Be a real man. Or am I too much of a man for ya?" Ron hissed, his teeth clenched. Kim saw that with all the punching, Ron had lost two of them. Eric turned back, his eyes bristling with anger and hate. He walked away, at least twenty yards. Then he started running, and with only a few yards left, he jumped and threw his right leg in front of him. The kick landed right on Ron's left shoulder. This time, Ron screamed in pain.

"STOP IT! PLEASE!" Kim yelled, between sobbing. Ron was still conscious, only his willpower was keeping him awake by now. Suddenly there was a chirp. Kim first thought it was her kimmunicator, but realized it wasn't as Eric raised his arm to his face. A small screen appeared on his sleeve, and Drakken's face filled it.

"Syntho-drone 901, where are you? We're about to activate the control signal and take over the world here! Are you trying to find popcorn or something?" Eric seemed to calm down in front of Drakken, but was still panting, full of rage.

"Dr. Drakken, I thought you were going to activate the signal in fifteen minutes!"

"Yes", the blue-faced scientist responded, "but Shego thought I was just being too dramatic with the midnight takeover thing, and that I was flirting with failure. The woman has no sense of flair." Drakken shrugged.

"But Dr. Drakken, Sir, it's your plan, you decide when we start!"

"Have you seen Shego? She shoots plasma at people who annoy her! I try my best not to! Now get over here! And if you find any popcorn, bring some for everyone, would you?"

Eric stared over at Ron, who was panting and defiantly rose his head back up.

"Now! Stop dawdling!" Drakken said. Eric lowered his arm, and moved toward the door.

"Sorry I can't stay, Kim. Just have to go take over the world… I'll be right back." With that, he exited and closed the door behind him.

Kim looked at Ron. He was a mess, blood was still flowing from the cut above his eye, his cheek was starting to look bruised and he wheezed with every breath. "Ron? Ron! Can you here me?" Kim said, trying to get a connection. She had stopped sobbing, but tears were still falling.

"Did he leave?" Ron whispered. He was having trouble keeping his eyes open, especially the right one.

"Ye- Yes, He... He left. Are you ok? Ron?"

"Oh, great", Ron said. His eyes rolled back and his head slumped forward as he lost consciousness.


	2. Diablos in disguise

Rufus was getting close. The scents of Kim and Ron were getting stronger by the minute, and it would just be a moment before he saw them. He had run around in the air ducts, trying to find them since they had been captured. Rufus had gotten lost a couple of times, and had cursed himself for it. He knew that this whole thing could be riding on him now. Suddenly, he came to a grate, and managed to get it open. He carefully ventured into the stockroom.

From his position he could see Kim tied to a giant fake cactus, but he couldn't see Ron yet. Kim was… something was wrong. She was crying? She never did that. Rufus ran up, and that's when he saw Ron.

If it weren't for the ropes holding him to the burrito model, he would be lying right on the concrete floor. He was bleeding from his eyebrow and his mouth, his face was starting to swell and bruise. Rufus was shocked. He had never seen Ron in this bad shape before. He ran as fast as he could toward his master, and climbed up his body as soon as he got there. The naked mole rat touched Ron's face softly and tried to get a reaction. None came.

"Rufus!" Kim had suddenly noticed her best friend's pet, and was regaining her hope. "Is he breathing ok?" Rufus checked and nodded in return. He then climbed down to the ropes that were holding Ron, and started biting them, without result.

"Get the laser lipstick, it's in my bag", Kim called to him. Rufus scampered down and retrieved it. He was on his way back to Ron, when Kim spoke again.

"No, Rufus, cut my ropes first. He's... He's gonna fall and someone has to catch him." Rufus realized she was right and turned around and cut Kim free. She picked up Rufus and took the lipstick from him.

"Thanks, little guy. You're a life saver." With that, she walked over to Ron and proceeded to cut his ropes. As she had predicted, Ron was too out of it, and fell forward, but she caught him and gently lay him down on the cold concrete floor. She checked him as best as she could. He was still breathing, and had a good pulse. But he was still bleeding from the cut on his head. She decided to try to stop it. She went to her bag and fished out some gauze that was part of the first aid kit her mother had insisted she should have with her on missions. Thank god for mom, she thought as she finished wrapping the gauze around Ron's head. Wait… mom!

She picked up the kimmunicator, but instead of calling Wade, like she usually would in these sitches, she called the one person she knew would know what to do. After a few seconds of ringing, her mom picked up the phone.

"Mom! Thank god you're there! I… I need your help!" Kim said into the receiver. She was trying to keep it together as best as she could. Ron didn't seem to be fatally injured, that helped.

"What is it Kim? Are you alright?" Anne Possible was relieved to hear that her daughter had called, but the tone of Kim's voice told her something else.

"Yeah, mom I'm fine, it… It's Ron. Eric beat him up badly, and he's breathing and all but I don't know if he's ok or have any broken bones or if he's bleeding inside or… whatever."

"Wait, did you say Eric beat him up? What happened?" Anne had heard that Drakken had captured Kim's date, but this was a new twist.

"He was a syntho-drone, long story. Now, what do I check for?" Kim didn't want to dwell on the subject of Eric any longer than she already had.

"Ok, tell me what you know, where was he hit, if there are obvious signs of damage." Kim responded by telling her mom what she had witnessed. Ron had taken blows to his head, his chest and a kick to the shoulder. He was bleeding from his eyebrow and the cheek beneath seemed to be swelling up. He was also missing two teeth, but didn't seem to be bleeding from his mouth. She wished that her mother could see what was going on, but the phone at home didn't have a video feature like the kimmunicator did.

"Ok, Kim, that sounds good. Now, you said that he took hits to his face, did he take any to his head, like the back or the sides?"

"No, Eric was pretty much focusing on his face"

"Ok, I want you to check anyway for any bumps or cuts; he could have hit his head against what was behind him." Kim checked and found none.

"That's good,", her mom said, "that probably means he doesn't have a concussion." Kim was relieved to hear that. "I think he's gonna be just fine, hon, but I really think you should get him to a hospital as soon as you can. From the sound of it, he could at least have a dislocated shoulder, and it needs to be looked at."

"Mom, I'm not done here, I have to stop Drakken! Can… can I leave him like this? I don't want to but I'm the only one who can stop this." Anne contemplated. What she really wanted to say was that Kim should stay with him, if not for his sake then for her. If something would happen to him and she wasn't there… She'd never forgive herself, Anne knew that. Ron could be in a worse condition than Kim's description suggested, but at the same time… people were going to die tonight, if the diablos weren't stopped. Triage was the word, and though she had had to ignore other people's pain in favour of someone else's, she had never had to make the choice between a friend and the rest of the world.

"Yes", she said, sighing. "Ron should be ok. Put him in the recovery position, you remember that one, right? Make sure his airways are clear, lay him on his side?" Kim remembered it, and proceeded to flip Ron onto his side, being as careful as she could with his injured shoulder. When she touched it, Ron seemed to flinch. He moved a little on his own when she had flipped him. She was relieved that he wasn't completely unconscious, and she told her mom, who was also glad to hear the news. After being reassured, Kim hung up. She silently touched Ron's cheek gently. She had a thought and picked up her kimmunicator again. She pushed the button for Wade, and his image filled the screen.

"Wade, I need you. Ron's in bad shape, but mom said he's just down for the count. I need someone to watch him while I stop Drakken. Can you watch him?"

"Sure, Kim. Just flip up the battery hatch, it'll hold the kimmunicator up." Kim moved to set it down by Ron. "I also need to tell you, GJ is on the way. I don't know when they'll be there, but maybe you can stop Drakken before the diablos go online."

"No, Drakken is pushing the button as we speak, I'm gonna have to finish this myself." She placed the kimmunicator on the floor, so Wade could clearly see Ron.

"Call my mom; she can help you figure out if something's going wrong. And call me on the com-ring if it does." She knelt down and kissed Ron on his right cheek, that wasn't swelling.

"Wish me luck, Ron. I'll be with you in a second." She stood back up and got a grim look on her face.

"Come on, Rufus. Let's get these bastards." Rufus growled in agreement. The exited the stockroom.

Kim could hear Drakken laughing beneath her as she silently crawled through the ducts that lead to the roof. At first, she had considered going in and confronting them directly, but without Ron backing her, she wasn't sure that taking on Drakken, Shego, Eric and the rest of the syntho-drones alone was the best move. Instead she had opted for disabling the master signal first, and then she would deal with the villains. Hearing Drakken's laugh made her wish that she had confronted them, so she at least could've punched the laughter out of him. Suddenly, the duct curved upward, and she began to climb. Rufus, having run around in the ducts had memorized quite a bit of the ventilation system and had led her precisely to the correct place. She managed to remove the grate, and got out. Rufus moved to follow, but Kim made him wait in the ducts, unseen. She got out the scrambler gun, aimed and fired at the signal tower. The projectile hit it target, and the tower's communication array started to explode. The diablos flying overhead immediately stopped, and shrank down as the signal stopped. Kim smiled. At least she had foiled Drakken's plan.

In the control room, Drakken screamed as the screen that depicted the diablos world wide progress exploded. When the smoke cleared he could only stare at it.

"Drakken! We were This! Close! If this is because you used some shoddy, half-assed parts, I'll kill you where you stand!" Shego was livid. For once, everything was going their way and now, they had failed again.

"I… I don't understand. I used… Everything was top notch. It was… the perfect plan. What could have…" He paused. "Kim Possible", he growled.

"She's locked I the storeroom, I was just there", Eric spoke up. "She couldn't have escaped."

"Oh, you'd be surprised what the girl can do", Shego exclaimed. "Now come on! I have a score to settle!" She moved towards the stairs.

"Shego! Where are you going?" Drakken yelled to his sidekick.

"The roof!" She answered, and Drakken grudgingly followed, with Eric in tow.

They quickly reached it, and saw Kim standing by the ledge, her back toward them.

"Ok, Possible. Let's dance." Shego said and took a fighting stance.

"Wait, Shego!" Drakken spoke up. "Where's the buffoon? It could be a trap!"

"You're scared of him now? Really, Dr. D, if you start to fear a trap from that moron-"

"Don't. Call him that." Kim interrupted Shego, as she turned around. Her face had a grim look on it, and it turned even angrier when she saw Eric standing behind Drakken. He looked as if he was seething with rage.

"Soft spot, eh, Princess", Shego said, as she ignited her hands. She threw off two blasts, which Kim easily avoided. They moved toward each other, Shego trying to hit Kim but missing every time.

"I… think this doesn't really needs my supervision", Drakken softly said. "I'll just go find the flying car and prepare for- ooof!" He was interrupted when Shego suddenly came crashing into him. Kim had reached her and had managed to throw the green-skinned woman at him. The both fell to the floor. Eric looked shocked, at then redirected his look towards her.

"So, Kim. I guess it's just you and me then. How fitting." He took a fighting stance. Kim didn't move.

"Not really", Kim said. Eric raised an eyebrow. "I would kick your ass, but that would never be enough. And besides, Rufus really didn't like what you did to Ron." Eric looked down. By his foot, he saw the naked mole rat wearing an angry face and growling. The syntho-drone didn't have time to react before Rufus bit down on his foot.

"Oh no! Nooo!" He screamed, as the syntho-goo escaped through the puncture. Eventually, there was just an empty husk left. Kim grinned.

At the same time, Shego had gotten up. She and Kim circled each other for a while, looking for an opening. Suddenly, Shego attacked, but Kim managed to kick her away, towards the ledge. Shego quickly got back up, as Kim rushed to take up a new stance.

"Do you know what I really hate?" Kim suddenly asked.

"That your date melted?" Shego responded. The plan had been shot to hell, but she was not giving up yet.

"That? I actually liked. What I hate? You." With that, Kim kicked Shego square in the chest. Shego screamed as she flew back into the control tower, which collapsed from the stress.

Kim turned around again. She watched as Drakken was trying to slowly creep toward to the stairs. She walked over to him. When he noticed her shadow loom over him, he rolled over on his back, defeated.

"Uhh… Is there some way we could resolve this without violence", he tried, meekly.

"So not gonna happen", Kim responded. With that, she grabbed Drakken by the collar, pulled him up and punched him square on the nose and released him. He fell to the floor, in pain.

Suddenly she heard another sound. She looked up, and saw a GJ helicopter making its way to the building. She exhaled, relieved. She knew that she should probably stay on the roof and greet them, but instead, she ran down the stairs to check up on Ron. She found him as she had left him, unconscious, lying on his side, She picked up the kimmunicator, and looked at Wade.

"He's ok, Kim. He even moved around a bit before, and moaned a little. Good sign, right?"

"Well, it's better than nothing at all", she responded. "Look, GJ is here now, so I'll talk to you later. Bye." Wade said bye, and the image went dark. She knelt down to Ron again, and softly stroked his hair. The bleeding seemed to have stopped as well. The swelling had gotten worse, though, and his right eye was probably going to be swelled shut for a while. She could feel tears forming in her eyes as she thought back to Eric's visit, but the thoughts vanished when she perceived a new presence in the stockroom. She turned around and saw Betty Director in the doorway.

"Hi, Kim. Nice to see you."


	3. Medevac

Kim sat in the medevac helicopter, wringing her hands. She watched Ron, as he lay on a gurney in the middle of the compartment. He was still.

When the GJ troops had found them, they had immediately sent in their field medic, who had checked on Ron's condition. Like Kim's mom, he had ruled out concussion after having successfully awakened Ron for a short time. Ron hadn't shown any signs of a serious head injury, he didn't have any bumps or cuts besides the ones in his face and he wasn't showing any signs of confusion or memory loss. Kim was relieved to hear Ron's voice again and tried to talk to him, but Ron barely managed to speak to the medic and when Kim tried talking to him, the pain, especially the one from his shoulder, returned and he had trouble concentrating on his responses. Eventually the field medic had decided to sedate Ron. Kim had wondered why they didn't just use some pain killers, but Dr. Director had explained that it would be best to keep him out, at least for the journey back to Middleton Hospital.

And that's where they were now. Ron on his gurney, surrounded by Dr. Director, the field medic and Kim, the latter two watching Ron intently. Dr. Director was keeping busy with reports coming in on the destruction that had been caused by the diablos. Dr. Drakken and his cohorts had all been captured and were being transferred to the local prison, to await further transportation. Kim had wished that she had been there to see Drakken and Shego being led away in chains, but her place was with Ron right now.

Dr. Director looked up from her laptop and watched the teen hero. She felt sad at seeing her like this, and yet immensely proud. Drakken's plot had gone under everyone's radar, except Kim and Ron's. And they had stopped it. Dr. Director found it especially remarkable that Kim had managed to complete the mission at all, without the support of Stoppable.

"I just got word from Middleton hospital", she said into her headset microphone. "They're standing by to receive us. Your mother is there, and so are Ron's parents." Kim didn't respond. "He's gonna be just fine, don't worry", Dr. Director added.

"Yeah, no offense to your field medic", Kim said, "but I think I'll wait 'til I hear a doctor say that." The field medic looked at Kim, smiling a friendly smile. Of course, he had heard what Kim had said, but it didn't get to him.

"Kim, I don't think you've been properly introduced." Dr Director gestured at the medic. "This is Clive Eycholls. He's one of GJ's top medics, and he actually is a medical doctor" This got Kim's attention, and she actually looked up at the man sitting opposite to her.

"Nothing to worry about, dear", Dr. Eycholls said. "You're not the first to assume that I'm an EMT and not a doctor." He went back to checking on Ron's injuries. He was in the process of taking care of Ron's eyebrow at the moment. Kim looked at Dr. Director.

"You have actual doctors as medics?" She wasn't sure if this was just an extraordinary case or business as usual.

"GJ only want the best, Kim. And we didn't hire him because he's a doctor, that came as a bonus. I was studying criminology when GJ recruited me, and that was just a bonus to them."

"I'm sure my babysitting skills will come in handy if I ever come to work for you", Kim said sullenly. "And Ron here's a great cook if you need one. If he'll ever do this again, I mean."

Dr. Director picked up on Kim's morose tone.

"Is there something you want to talk about, Kim?" Kim looked over at her, sighing.

"I just… I don't know why he did that. I mean… He was baiting Eric! Why would… He's never done anything like that before! Ever!" Dr. Director looked over at Dr. Eycholls, and signaled to him to get off their channel, so that they could speak in relative privacy.

"Ok, Kim. Tell me what happened in there." Kim proceeded to tell her what had happened, how Eric had come in to gloat while Ron was trying to cheer Kim up. How he had threatened to hold Kim as his personal captive. How Ron had suddenly started insulting Eric, to the point of Eric completely losing his cool. How Ron had even yelled at Kim, and insulted her. Dr. Director took everything in, asking questions where she needed to. She sat in silence for a couple of moments, formulating a theory. It was a plausible one.

"Kim… when I was a junior agent, I was once sent on a mission with my partner. I can't tell you what it was about, or where we were, but I can tell you that we were captured. That wasn't really unexpected; we knew it was a dangerous mission. And we knew that is we didn't check back with GJ, they would send backup in 24 hours, and since we had locator chips under our skin, they'd know where we where. But the villains, if you will, drugged us, so we lost track of time." She took a breath. That mission had been a hard one, and had stuck with her for a long time.

"Anyway, eventually they took us from our cells to their control room. And that's where my partner went absolutely crazy. He started cursing, insulting everyone, ranting, raving… I thought that he had snapped. I tried to get them to focus on me, but it was impossible. Eventually they got so angry with him, they started beating him up. I don't know how bad it could have ended up, because that's when backup arrived, took out the villains and freed us. I was so angry at him afterwards." That was one part she was especially not proud of.

"He jeopardized the mission, and our safety, and it was obvious he couldn't hack it. I even said so in my report. And that's when I learned the truth." Kim listened intently.

"He woke before I did when we where in our cell, but played possum for three hours while they were checking up on us. At some point he caught a glimpse of a wristwatch, and so he knew how much time had transpired and how long we had to wait. He knew that backup was on its way in when we were led to the control room." She took another breath.

"He had also overheard their plans when he was waiting. He had heard that they were planning to torture, or even kill me to get him to talk. And he wouldn't have that. So he started acting up to get them to focus on him long enough for backup to arrive. If he hadn't… well, lets just say that I wouldn't have just an eye patch today."

Kim knew where she was going with the story. It was quite similar to her own, but… there were flaws in the comparison, she decided.

"Look, Dr., I know that Ron would do that if we were in that sitch. But we weren't. I mean… Eric told us how long he had, and there weren't enough time to… To torture me." She didn't want to even think of that possibility. "And he said that he was going to continue to keep me captive, so he wasn't going to kill me."

"There are other things he could have done besides torture and murder, Kim." Dr. Director's voice took a very somber tone, even more somber than it had been.

"Ok, so maybe he was going to rough me up a bit. I can take it, Ron knows that. I know I usually walk away unscathed, but I've taken hits from Shego, or from falling badly, or… I don't know; lots of stuff. And if Eric was gonna keep me captive, he wouldn't have roughed me up that bad, right? And I still don't understand why he yelled at me."

"He yelled at you because he wanted to shock you enough to keep quiet. He wanted to retain Eric's attention. And no, you're right. You can take a beating, and Ron knows that. I think he knows very well just what you can take. And I think that Ron knew that Eric wasn't gonna beat you up."

"But if he wasn't gonna beat me up, or kill or torture me, what was he gonna do?"

"Kim… from your description of what Eric said… There was a subtext in his words. Maybe you didn't pick up on it because you were so angry. But Ron did."

Kim thought back at the conversation. She had been so angry to see Eric, she couldn't believe it. She'd been angrier later, of course, but seeing him for the first time since the truth had been revealed had practically sent her into a fit. She remembered Eric's words to try to understand what Dr. Director was getting at. He had said that… that she was a looker, as it were. He'd said that he liked her feistiness, even though she didn't really know what he meant by that. If she were ever to have a captive, she wouldn't want feisty one. He said that he was going to have some fun… and… have a… trial run… Kim's eyes widened. He wouldn't have. It was… I mean, he wasn't even a real person, he couldn't have been thinking of that, right?

"Are… are you talking about…" Kim had problems saying it. "Some… some kind of… sexual assault?" It sounded a bit more clinical than rape. In this case, making it more clinical was good. Dr. Director nodded, slowly, with a serious face.

"But how is that possible, I mean… Drakken wouldn't have programmed that! I mean, he's a monster, but he's never done anything like that!"

"There are a lot of things we don't know about syntho-drones, Kim. The one's we have captured are mostly the same, but some are different. Sometimes the programming hasn't worked, in others some kind of conflict has arisen. In this case… I don't know. This Eric-drone was obviously violent, but so are almost every other syntho-drone. The difference is perhaps that he was also programmed to be charming, romantic even. That programming could have added a new dimension to his violent tendencies. Truth be told, we haven't ever heard of a syntho-drone behaving like that, ever. That behavior is, sadly, all too human."

Kim tried to take it all in. If that's what would have happened… There was enough time for it. And if Ron had picked up on it… There was no way he was going to let it happen, she knew that. It all started to make some sense now. Disturbing, disgusting sense, but sense all the same. She looked back at Ron, and almost subconsciously stroked his hair back from his forehead.

"Now, Kim, I just want to point out that I don't know if this is true. Since we can't interrogate Eric, I can only assume that this is what he had in mind, but he could just as easily have been wanting to beat you up or even nothing at all. What I do think is that Ron was afraid that something worse was going to happen, and that that's why he picked a fight." Dr. Director was interrupted by the voice of the pilot.

"Dr. Director, We're approaching Middleton Hospital. Stand by for landing procedure." They all tightened their flight harnesses, and Dr. Eycholls tightened Ron's straps. Kim held Ron's hand as the familiar hospital was suddenly visible on their left.

The doctors at Middleton Hospital had come to the same conclusions as Dr. Eycholls. No concussions, a dislocated shoulder, some bruising, some cuts. They had also discovered that Ron had a two broken ribs, but that the fractures were not serious. Ron was still out, though, but by now it was more about fatigue than the sedatives. They had given him some Vicodin for the pain it was obvious he was going to feel bad tomorrow.

By now, Ron was sleeping in a hospital bed. Kim sat in a chair by his side. She was getting tired as well, but she didn't feel like going home. The perks of having a mom who worked as a brain surgeon at the hospital was that no one was going to tell Kim to leave, and Kim were planning to take advantage of that fact. The Stoppables had been there for most of the evening, but had eventually left, knowing that Ron was going to be ok, trusting the doctors. Kim trusted them to, but… The guilt was keeping her there.

Her mom entered, suddenly. She wasn't assigned to the case, because of her connection to Ron, but that didn't stop her from getting involved, helping the Stoppables understand what was going on, what would happen, and so on. In some part, the guilt was keeping her there too. She felt really bad for performing the sort of triage she had, telling Kim to stop Drakken rather than wait by Ron's side.

"Hey, hon. Are you ok?" She asked her daughter. Kim's head jerked up in hearing her mom's voice.

"What? Yeah, he's doing ok, he's just sleeping", she answered. Anne smiled.

"Kim, I know that, I was asking about you. You look like you're gonna fall asleep right in that chair. Are you sure you want to stay?"

"If I fall asleep, I fall asleep, mom. Even in this chair. But I'm not leaving 'til Ron is." It wasn't that dramatic a statement, if nothing out of the ordinary happened, Ron would be discharged tomorrow after getting some pain killers and a follow up exam. Anne watched her daughter.

"I'm gonna get in trouble for this, but ok. Just wait a few minutes, I'll get an extra bed in here and hook it up to Ron's." Kim blushed a little at her mom's words.

"Mom… I'll be ok with the chair."

"No, you won't. Those chairs were not designed for sleeping in. I don't even think they were designed to sit in. You just fought a big fight, you're sleeping in a bed, and that's final."

"You know what's gonna happen, mom!" Now Anne really paid attention. "Dad will go ballistic if he hears my prom night ended up with me sharing a bed with a boy!" Anne chuckled. James had a tendency to be overprotective when it came to Kim, especially when it concerned subjects like boys.

"Oh, don't worry about dad. I'll take the heat if it comes to that. But Ron is on pain killers, he has two broken ribs and a dislocated shoulder, and even if didn't, he'd still be Ron." Kim shuddered at the implication. The comment had hit a bit too close to home, what with the sitch earlier. Kim had told her mom what had happened, but had only said that Eric was gonna beat her up. She didn't want to alarm her, even if she felt bad for not telling. Not just the lying to her mom thing, but taking away some of Ron's sacrifice.

"Alright. Get the bed." There were worse fates than sharing a bed with Ron, she thought, and this chair was definitely one of them. Her mom left, and returned with an orderly and a bed, which they attached to Ron's. Anne gave her daughter a kiss on the forehead and gave her a hug before she left. While she wasn't supposed to be working right now, the diablos had caused a lot of destruction and injuries. She had five surgeries scheduled, and more were sure to come.

Kim lay in the bed, when she realized that she was still dressed in the bio-suit. She frowned. She wasn't sure that sleeping in it was the right thing. It was an experimental model, like Wade had said, and something could go wrong. She cursed herself for not asking her mother for a change of clothes.

She went for her backpack. She usually packed an extra shirt, even though she couldn't remember putting one in this time. Looking in it, she did, however find one and pulled it out. As she changed into it, she realized that it was actually one of Ron's mission shirts that he must've forgot since the last mission. Without even thinking about it, she sniffed it for a moment. The room smelt of isopropyl alcohol and the smell of Ron's shirt was nice, even if it hadn't been washed since he last wore it.

She felt a bit self-conscious as she slipped under the covers, wearing nothing but Ron's shirt and her panties. But, hey, she thought. This was Ron. He might be a bit shocked tomorrow, but at lest he'll wake up knowing I'm right here, so he won't have to worry. She snuggled up to him a bit and looked at him. The icepack on his face was slowly melting, but wouldn't be replaced yet. She lifted it a bit to see if it was helping the swelling. She saw that it was, and was a bit relieved. She leaned in and kissed Ron on the cheek. Ron moved a little at her touch, but continued to sleep.

"Good night, Ron. See you tomorrow. And thanks for… you know. Everything", she said, as she turned off the lamp on the nightstand and rested her head on the pillow.


	4. Medpack

Ron slowly opened his left eye. He still felt tired, but his throat was killing him. It felt about at dry as that time he had overindulged in Diablo sauce. As his mind started to wake up, he looked around. The obvious first point was that he had only one eye to see the world with. A few seconds panic ensued, before he managed to open the right eye with some effort. It hurt a little, and as soon as he had registered that it actually still worked, he closed it.

Having gleaned something on his right side, he slowly turned his head. To his surprise, he saw Kim lying beside him, still sleeping. As he stared at her, he also took in the surroundings. It was obvious that they were both in a hospital, and he understood why he was there. But why was Kim there? He started to feel worried, but realized that he was the only one who bore any signs of injury. He had bandages covering his forehead, chest, left shoulder, his left eye was obviously swollen and, he realized, he was missing at least two teeth. Nothing seemed to be wrong with Kim, though. Except that she was sleeping next to him. Holding, he realized, his right hand.

While seeing that Kim was ok took a load off his mind, this made him a bit perplexed. Yesterday or however long he had slept, he had almost revealed his feelings to Kim. Had he said something while he was out? He could vaguely remember someone shining a light in his eyes at some point, but it was hazy. Could he have blabbed something during that point? Is that why she was sleeping next to him?

Ron resigned himself. No, that couldn't be it, come on. She was just being a friend. Maybe she was even feeling guilty about what happened yesterday, or something. Ron didn't like that, but it was a possibility.

As he pondered, he gently stroked Kim's fingers with his. As he marveled a bit at how soft they were, she suddenly stirred. He knew that she was waking up. It would be good to hear what had happened, he thought. To hear how Kim kicked Drakken and Shego back to jail and Eric… hmm… what would be a fitting punish-

His thoughts were interrupted by pain. Instead of simply waking up, Kim had rolled over and managed to throw her right arm across Ron's chest. He wasn't in that much pain because of the pain killers, but the added effect of Kim's arm essentially hitting him sent him over the top. He yelped, and started coughing, which didn't exactly help the pain at all. His coughing and writhing did, however wake up Kim, who panicked when she saw her position and realized what had happened.

"Oh my God, Ron, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to..." She hoisted herself up and leaned away a bit. "I'm so sorry, Ron. Are you ok, do you need me to get a nurse or something?"

Ron stopped coughing. "No, KP, I'm fine, I just… I could do with a glass of water."

"Oh, oh sure, hang on", Kim replied. She threw her cover off and got up. Ron almost started coughing again when he saw that Kim was only dressed in a black mission shirt and panties. As she returned with a glass of water he was blushing so badly he could feel it. He was, however happy about that, since it meant that right now, the blood wasn't going anywhere else. He downed the water. It helped his dry throat quite a bit. He decided to break the silence.

"Ehh… Eeeh? Eeh… So, how did we do it? I mean, how did we do last night? Everything ok on the save the world thing?"  
"Yeah, no problem there. Drakken and Shego are in jail." Kim smiled.

"Ah, sounds good. Sorry I wasn't there-"

"Ron, none of that, please and thank you. You did enough last night." Kim looked him in the eyes with a sad, serious face. Ron squirmed. He was unsure if she was just helping his confidence or if she had figured out why he had behaved like he did. He decided to avoid the subject, for now.

"Err… ok. So… where's Rufus, by the way?" Kim leaned up, took the glass back and headed to the bathroom for some more water.

"Oh, he's fine; he's with your parents right now. He was quite the hero too last night, you know. Disintegrated Eric all by himself." She returned, and Ron downed the second glass.

"He did?"

"Yeah, he was an angry naked mole rat yesterday. Don't think I've ever seen him so angry." Kim moved around, and got back in bed next to Ron. "He wasn't the only angry one, though." For a moment, Ron reconsidered his decision not to talk about it as he stared into Kim's gorgeous green eyes. Before he could make up his mind, there was a knock on the door, and a nurse stepped in. In what seemed to be only a couple of seconds, the room was seemingly filled with nurses and doctors, all wondering how Ron felt, if he was in any pain, etc. In reality, there were only two doctors, one of whom an intern, and two nurses, but to a teenaged boy who wanted nothing more than to be alone with the girl he was crushing on, the room might as well have been filled to the brim. During the commotion, Kim saw fit to get dressed, and put on the bio-suit. She had noticed that Ron seemed a bit nervous, and with all the people walking in the room, she began to feel a bit self-conscious.

After about half an hour, Ron's parents arrived, happy to see him awake and back to his usual self. Together with Ron, they discussed how his recovery would look, and they were also given a recipe for Vicodin, in case the pain got out of hand. After that, Ron was discharged.

"So… what're you up to today, then", Kim said as they were wheeling Ron out.

"Uhh, I was gonna suggest Bueno Nacho, but I guess that's out…"

"How about I come over in an hour or so, we'll see if we can't think of something. I mean, I have to bring Rufus by anyway", Kim responded. Ron didn't seem to be too tired to watch a movie or something, and she didn't want to leave him alone right now. Ron looked over at his parents, who didn't seem put off by the idea.

"Ok, sure. I'll see you in an hour, then", Ron said as they approached the Stoppables' car.

"Fine", Kim said, smiling. They stood there for a moment, looking at each other, before Mr. Stoppable honked his horn. "So… bye", Kim said, and leaned in and kissed Ron on his cheek. Ron's uninjured eye flew wide open, and he smiled like a goof as Kim walked away.

* * *

"So… what do you want to do?" Ron said, as he sat on the bed. Kim sat next to him. Rufus had placed himself in his lap, and had been very eager to welcome him back before falling asleep suddenly. Kim had explained that the little guy had apparently been up all night worrying.

"Well… um… I actually wanted to talk about what happened yesterday." Kim had wanted to talk about it since yesterday, but hadn't dared to ask him in the hospital. Ron swallowed.

"Uh, ok, I, uh… I don't know what to say. I… I guess I just went a little nuts in there, you know." Ron was lying, but he wasn't sure of how to tell her.

"Ron… I think we both know that isn't true", Kim said. "I… I talked to Dr. Director and she suggested that it was… because you were afraid that Eric would… do… something?"

"Oh, err… I…" Ron sighed. "Yeah. She's right." He tried to look away, but Kim reached out and touched the uninjured side of his face, and turned his head.

"Ron… Why were you afraid to say that?" Ron sighed.

"I… I… I didn't want to scare you."

"Ron, you scared me yesterday, when you didn't let me know what you were doing. Why are you scared now?" Ron paused.

"I guess… I'm still scared of what he was gonna do, so… I don't wanna scare you any more."

Kim observed him.

"What did you think he was gonna do", she whispered. Ron just shook his head.

"Ok", Kim continued, "you don't have to say. Dr. Director covered the subject, so I can imagine." Ron sighed.

"Yeah, I guess. But imagining it just before something was gonna happen was… not at all funny." He bit his lip. The visions that had run through his head…. And it wasn't just that something would have happened, it was that he would have been forced to see it too. Without being able to stop it. Kim looked away, and then looked back.

"Of course, you realize that we're gonna need a signal from now on." Ron frowned. "Well, I mean, if we ever end up in something like that again. I mean, I wasn't scared because I thought something was gonna happen to me, I was scared that he was gonna beat you to death and I didn't even know why you egged him on." Ron nodded slowly.

"And, you know, if you ever end up like me, I don't want you to feel like I did, so I think-"

"Whoa, whoa, wait a minute here", Ron interrupted her. "If something like that happens to me, I don't want you to-"

"To what, Ron? Take a beating? I can handle it, you know that. And don't expect me to do anything less to save you. What goes for you, goes for me, you got that?" Ron swallowed.

"I just don't want to see you hurt, KP."

"Well, I didn't want to see you hurt either, but it happened. So… if something like that happens again… I think we need some kind of signal, if I think I need to draw some heat or vice versa. I hope we won't have to use it, but…"

"Yeah… ok, we can think of something later, I'm… I'm a bit too tired to think about that right now." Ron really wasn't, but he didn't want to dwell on this subject right now.

"Ok… you wanna get some sleep, or watch some TV, then?" Kim asked.

"Uhh… I don't know" Ron really had no idea of what he wanted to do. Having Kim here was more than enough to keep him happy.

"Well, what would you do if this was just a normal Saturday? Besides hanging with me, I mean?"

"I guess I would play some Zombie Mayhem. But I'm not supposed to move my arm too much, so that's out the window. Unless you want to play?" Kim's eyes darted. Video games were one of her weaker points.

"Uhh... I guess I could… I mean... if you'll help me with it?" The last time she had played, Ron had helped her figure out the controls, and she improved instantly. Ron looked surprised, though. He had only suggested that she would play as a joke.

"I guess I could help you grasp it", he said after a moment, and instructed her how to turn on the console.

* * *

"Ok, so, you jump, kick, run to the next area, pick up the medpack, cause you're gonna need a full health bar before taking on the group of zombies coming from the ruins on your… left. No, left, Kim!" Kim furiously mashed the buttons, and somehow managed to make her way through the throng of Zombies ahead of her.

"Ron, haven't you ever wondered why, if this is supposed to be a completely unexplored jungle full of ruins and zombies, why are there so many medpacks lying around?"

"Uhh… Helicopter drop? Don't worry about that now, you're about to get to the next level."

"You… you mean I did it? I cleared the level? Yes!" Kim threw her arms into the air. This level had been a really hard one. She looked at Ron, grinning widely.

"Told you I could do it if you coached me a little!"

"Ok, I admit I was wrong, you have… some game. Maybe next time, we can move you up to 'medium' difficulty." Kim stared at him.

"You mean… I'm playing on easy right now?" She just couldn't believe it. She was having such a hard time on easy?!

"Uhh… actually… they call it… 'wimp' But, I mean, that's neither here nor there, really, I don't know why they call it that. Bad developers." Kim sighed and lied down on the floor.

"It's official. I'm a wimp." Ron chuckled and sat down on the floor next to her.

"Well, if that's the case, we need a whole new definition of the word, cause… 'wimp' really doesn't do you justice." Kim glared at him. "I mean that in a good way, sorry."

"Why is it that I suck at everything you do well?" Kim suddenly asked.

"I wouldn't call it that", Ron said. Kim raised a suspicious eyebrow at him. "We just… you know… complement each other. Like, I can't stop Drakken by myself and you can't cook by yourself. Or at least, shouldn't try to." Kim chuckled at the comment.

"I guess that's one way to see it. Yeah, that sounds good. We really make a great couple, you and I." Ron swallowed at the implication. He looked at her. She looked so… Absolutely astonishing lying on his floor. She looked at him.

"You… you think so, Kim? That… that we make a good couple?" Kim didn't have time to respond, as suddenly Ron's mom opened the door.

"Ron, is Kim gonna stay for dinner or is she-" She interrupted herself when she saw the scene. Kim on the floor, Ron sitting beside her. Ron seemed to blush a little.

"Uhh, no, Mrs. Stoppable, I promised mom and dad I'd be back for dinner." Kim looked back at Ron. "But I can be back in an hour or so, if you want me to. I can bring my history homework, and we'll work on yours too." Ron nodded. Mrs. Stoppable excused herself as the teens got up.

"So, I'll be back", Kim said, and motioned toward the door to the hall. Ron followed her to it. As they said goodbye for now, Kim again leaned in and gave Ron another kiss on the cheek.

Ron waited until he heard the door close downstairs before going back to his bed. He sat down, and Rufus noted that he seemed… somewhat more depressed than he should be.

"Hnh. What wrong?" The naked mole rat said. Ron sighed, as he lay on the bed.

"Rufus, my pal, I can't believe this. I'm in worse shape romantically than I was yesterday! And I was in seriously bad shape yesterday!" Rufus frowned.

"Huh? But Kim nice! No Eric!"

"Yeah, I know, but…" He sighed again. "Look, yesterday, two things were gonna happen if I told Kim how I felt. Either she would say 'thanks, but no thanks', we'd stay friends, and I'd feel like an idiot. I wouldn't like it, but I'd cope, I guess. She wouldn't be the first girl that would have made me feel like an idiot. Or, she would have said, you know 'yeah, I guess we could give it a try'. I mean, I had a fifty-fifty chance, basically." He sat up.

"But now… I mean… She sleeps in my hospital bed… she plays video games? She… keeps kissing me? Granted, on the cheek, but..:"

"That's good!" Rufus interjected.

"Yeah, I'm not complaining you know… But… She doesn't do stuff like that… At least not, you know, in the same day." He sighed.

"So either, she's suddenly fallen in love with me overnight, which… not likely… Or… She is overcompensating for me getting hurt. And that means, that if I say anything now… She might say yes just because she feels guilty. And I don't want that. That's not a good way to start something." Rufus seemed to contemplate this.

"Hnh! Still fifty-fifty!" He said.

"I wish! But I really doubt she's fallen for me overnight! Just like I didn't think that she'd say that she had had a crush on me since pre-k, or that she'd never want to see me again if I told her! Damn, Rufus. How could I end up like this? How am I the only guy on Earth that takes a beating and ends up with less of a chance to get the girl?" He lay back down on the bed.

"One third of a chance… What do I do now?" He sighed, before getting up and going downstairs to get some food.


	5. Second place

**Author's note: This chapter is gonna get so dialogue heavy even I'm surprised! I hope you can tell who's doing the talking ok. And now… A little less action, a little more conversation.**

Kim came home, and while she enjoyed the dinner her mother had prepared in what was left of the kitchen, she couldn't wait to get out of the house. In fact, she ate her food, a tuna casserole, so fast, Ron would have told her to slow down and chew her food. After she had said her please and thank yous, she bolted to her room to gather up her homework. She was just about done, when she noticed someone in the door. She turned around and saw Monique standing there.

"You in a hurry somewhere, girl?" Monique asked her, having observed Kim's stressing for a moment.

"Hey, Monique. No, I'm just heading off to Ron to do some homework. To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Well, since you didn't show up back at the prom yesterday, I figured I'd pay a visit and see how you're doing. How's Ron, by the way? There are rumors going around that he was hurt?" Monique had heard a couple of them, ranging from dead to broken toe. She figured that if something really bad had happened, Kim, or someone would have called, but she was still worried. Kim sighed.

"Yeah, he took a beating yesterday, but he's ok, mostly. "

"What happened? Did he grope Shego or something?" Monique knew Ron usually got out unscathed, but if he had taken a real beating, something was off.

"What?! No! He… Eric beat him up, not Shego."

"Eric? What the..? How did that happen?" Kim sighed again. Apparently, the word hadn't gotten out yet on Eric's true nature.

"Eric was a syntho-drone, Mon. Drakken sent him, so that I wouldn't pay attention to what was going on. And he was successful." She slumped down on the floor next to her bed. She was still depressed about that. "They captured both me and Ron… Chained us to some giant advertising stuff… Then Eric came in to gloat. Ron caught on that Eric was gonna do something… bad to me, so he started insulting him… Got beat up pretty bad before Eric had to leave." Monique listened intently to Kim's words.

"Wow… he really did that? He… He took a beating for you? That's…amazing!"

"Yeah, I know. He is." They sat in silence for a while. "So", Kim said after a minute of contemplating a new subject that didn't hurt talking about so much, "what's the gossip on the prom then? What did we miss?" Monique smiled.

"Well, Bonnie and Brick broke up again."

"At the prom? Wow, what was it this time? Brick stepped on her toes?"

"Well, no. Brick was a little too happy about you beating Drakken, and you know Bonnie's not happy about him supporting you that eagerly since Ron wrote that article. So, they got into a fight, and broke up."

"Well, I'm sure they're back together by now, though."

"Hope not. I've got a date with Brick in an hour." Monique grinned as Kim's eyes went wide.

"What? How did that happen? Tell. Me. Everything!"

"Well, we got to talking after they broke up, and I don't know how or why, but… He asked me out."

"This… This is huge! Where are you going?"

"Just to get a coffee, no big."

"Way big, Mon! Come on, let's get you fixed up!" Kim got up and dragged Monique to the bathroom. She pulled out all her make-up and proceeded to make Monique look absolutely gorgeous. After doing that, she sat down and began absentmindedly combing her own hair.

"…and then Tara said that Marcella said that Joe had said that he wasn't gonna ask Jenny out, but that he had told Billy that so he'd get off Joe's back about it, and… Kim, are you listening? Major gossip here!"

"Uh, sorry, I lost you somewhere. What was that?"

"I said…uhh, Kim? Why are you combing your hair, it's fine the way it is." Kim stopped combing.

"Ehh… I just spent three hours playing video games. I don't… I don't know what that does to my hair." She responded. Monique seemed to contemplate it.

"Yeah, I guess. I mean, look at Ron's hair."

"Yeah… Hey, wait, there's nothing wrong with Ron's hair, it's fine, it's cute, even!"

"Really?" Monique responded with a chuckle. "This from the girl who called in a favor from one of the best hair dressers in the world to get Ron a new hair cut?"

"Hey, that was years ago! He's… He's grown into it!" Kim got up, and stood in front of the mirror. She picked up a lipstick and started to freshen up her own make-up a bit. Might as well, she thought.

"That's one way to see it, I guess." Monique paused, seeing Kim's hands wandering across the selection of make-up on the table. "Uhh… What're you doing now?"

"Just thought I'd freshen up, you know."

"To go to Ron? That's new."

"Hey, Ron's seen me in make-up many times. I think he can handle it." Kim did not like Monique's tone.

"Yeah, sure, but… Do you usually put on make-up when you're going to see him?" Kim sighed and put down the mascara she was holding.

"Are you trying to tell me something, Mon?"

"No, not really… just wondering. I mean, I saw you glancing at the eye shadow, Kim. Eye shadow means business!" Kim seemed to contemplate what her friend was saying, before hanging her head down.

"Oh God, Mon. What am I doing? I can't do this! I… I can't go back to Ron looking all… made up! I mean… He has bruises and… and, his eye is swollen shut, and he's lost two teeth, and I'm going over there with eye shadow! God!" She sat down on the floor. "I can't do that!"

Monique took a moment to observe her friend.

"Uhh… Ok, Kim, you're sorta freaking on me here… Did… did something happen between you and Ron?"

"You mean besides him taking a beating because I was stupid enough to be fooled by a syntho-drone?"

"Yeah, I mean besides that. Did… Are you two… You know…" Kim looked confused at Monique's words, and didn't seem to grasp what she has implying. Monique sighed. "Kim… are you and Ron dating? Or, you know, going steady or something?" Kim's eyes widened.

"What? No, Mon, we haven't… When would we have…? Why would you think that?" Kim blurted out.

"Well, I mean, you're sitting here, putting on make-up for him, so I thought, you know… That you were trying to impress him, at least."

"Mon, I… I was just freshening up a bit! Doesn't mean I'm crushing on Ron, or that he's crushing on me!"

"Ok, ok… But, come on… If someone took a beating for me, I'd at least consider it." Kim squirmed.

"I… I really haven't thought of it. I mean, come on, it's Ron we're talking about here!"

"Yeah, I know… But… Are you sure nothing's changed? You haven't done anything… new?" Kim was quiet for a moment.

"Like what?"

"Well, holding hands, hugging a lot more, kissing are usually popular in times like these… Done any of those?" Kim squirmed again.

"Well, I can't hug him, because he's got two broken ribs… Ok, well, I guess I've held his hands a bit, but, I mean, he was unconscious for most of it. Just like with the kissing." Monique's eyes flew open, and she couldn't stop herself from squealing when she talked.

"You… kissed Ron? Come on, Kim, that's major! How was it, give me the details!"

"Calm down, Mon, it was only on the cheek! And, I mean, he was unconscious for the first two, so you can't-"

"The first two? How many times have you done it?"

"Ehh… four. But, I mean, I've kissed him on the cheek before, it's not that new!"

"Maybe so. Come on now, I asked for details!"

"Well, the first was just before I went to take down Drakken, and the second before I fell asleep, but those are the two he wasn't awake for, so, those don't count, right? And the last two were when I left to go home after the hospital, and when I left to come here for dinner. There's… there's nothing special about it."

"You've kissed him four times on the cheek in the last 16 hours? Girl, that is something." Monique grinned. Kim was getting tired and annoyed at the conversation now, it seemed, as she responded.

"Fine, ok, so quantity is one thing, but I mean, they were on the cheek, there's nothing special about that!"

"Actually honey, I think there is." A new voice made its presence known, that of Kim's mother, Anne Possible. Kim and Monique stared at her as she entered the bathroom.

"M- Mom? Were… Were you listening the entire time?" Kim was shocked to see her mom enter the conversation, which was getting too weird already.

"Well, no, I only stopped here to shoo away your brothers, so I missed some of it, but I heard the good parts."

"The Tweebs were listening? Oh God, I'm never gonna live this down! I can just hear them, 'Kim and Ronnie sitting in a tree-" The humiliation. My God, Kim thought, but Monique interrupted her.

"Kim, focus! Anyway, what were you saying, Mrs. P?"

"Well, I was gonna say that there is something about those kisses, Kim. You're kissing him good bye." Kim's eyes went wide. What was she saying? "Oh, I don't mean to be dramatic, hon. You've seen me and your dad do it every day of your life. It's just a part of how we show our love and affection for each other. And no matter how small the kiss may be, it always means something. And it sounds like that's what you're doing with Ron." Kim squirmed.

"Mom, I… You and dad have been married for twenty years! Ron and I haven't done anything and now you're saying we already act like we're ma- dating?" Anne smiled.

"Well, we all have to start somewhere. Your dad and me started with-"

"Don't. Want. To hear, mom!" This was getting weirder by the minute, and there was only so much she could take.

"Kimmie, I'm only saying that we-" Kim shut her eyes and slapped her hands over her ears.

"Lalllaalalalallalala! I just to be Drew! One day- No, no, different song. What is that, that freaky thing?" Kim yelled more than sang. Anne stopped talking and looked at Monique, who was rolling her eyes. After two verses of her bad rendition of the Naked Mole Rap, Kim opened her eyes and saw the not amused looks on her mom's and Monique''s faces. She sighed.

"Ok, maybe that was a little immature."

"Yeah, if we redefine 'little'", Monique mumbled under her breath.

"What? I know you don't wanna hear about your parents… you know… love life."

"Kim, I was only going to say that different people start showing affection differently, that's all." Anne replied before Monique would have to defend herself on an entirely different subject than the one Anne was trying to get at.

"Fine, but if you really want me to listen, lay off comparing me and Ron to you and dad."

"Understood. Now, what seems more likely? That you're just randomly kissing Ron, or that in some way you're trying to show affection. Any affection at all." Kim pondered the question.

"Well, I…" She couldn't decide which answer would sound best, or at least get them off her back about this. "I mean… I like Ron, I mean… I don't… like him, like him, but… ", she caved in, with a sigh. "I'm not being random kissy-girl. I guess." Anne and Monique smiled at each other. Somehow, they had formed a pact right there and then.

"Sooo…. You're not kissing him randomly and you're putting on serious make-up before you're going to see him…" Monique started needling her friend. Kim sighed again.

"Are we back on that? I'm not putting on make-up especially for Ron, I'm just…"

"Putting on make-up to walk a few blocks, in case the Oh Boyz happens to drive by in their tour bus?" Monique rolled her eyes. Kim was speechless, then recovered.

"Ok, let's just calm down before this turns into the second or third to worst conversation I've ever had. Just because… I'm putting on make-up and, yes, showing Ron some affection", she took a breath, "does not mean that I am in anyway crushing, falling in love with or having any feelings beyond the friendly kind for Ron. It just means..." She faltered a bit. "It just means that… It doesn't mean anything, ok?" Anne and Monique remained silent for a moment before Anne spoke up.

"You're right, hon." Kim breathed a sigh of relief, while Monique seemed stunned. "Just because you… seem… to be developing romantic feelings for Ron doesn't mean that you are." Kim smiled. Finally, she'd gotten through.

"Thanks, mom. Now, I'm going to go-"

"I'm not finished, Kim." Kim had been on her way to stand up, but the tone of her mom's voice made her sit back down. Anne gathered herself, while Monique stared at her, wanting to scream 'Don't screw this up!' "What you're doing isn't what matters here, since you could probably rationalize everything away anyhow. What you feel, however, matters. So, the real question is… How do you feel about Ron?"

Kim stared at her mother, who seemed more serious than ever.

"I… He's… he's Ron, I mean…" This time, Monique interrupted her.

"Girl, if you say the words 'just friends', 'like a brother' or anything that ends with 'since pre-k', I'm sooo gonna roll my eyes for fifteen minutes straight."

"Well, what the hell am I supposed to say, then?" She looked down. "We've known each others for so long, I… How would I even know if there was anything there?" Anne took a breath as she heard her daughter's words.

"Kim… That's something only you can answer. With me, it was seeing something I hadn't seen before that sent me thinking."

"Mom… Ron reinvents himself two-three times every year and even then, I've known him for 12 years, I think I know him well enough, even the bad sides." Was that true, though, she thought to herself.

"Well, it's not as simple as that, Kim. Sure, Ron has a tendency to take some new thing and run it into the ground. But that's something entirely new. I'm talking about something that was there all along, that somehow, you missed. With you two, it would be harder, I know, since you've known each other for so long. Do you think you know him well enough to say you really know him inside and out?"

"I… I don't know… he still surprises me… You know, sometimes. But… could I really have missed something so big that… that seeing it would make me… crush on him?" Anne smiled.

"I think so, hon. It happened to me." Kim looked confused, so Anne felt the need to clarify.

"Kim… you know how your dad and I met, right?"

"Sure, you met through Aunt Emily and Uncle Henry, then he asked you out, then you fell in love, then marriage, then me, then tweebs." She had heard the story before, it wasn't new.

"Well… that's not exactly how it happened. Actually, I knew your father for a year before we went on our first date." Kim looked stunned. Monique leaned back against the wall. Seeing Kim speechless was an unusual sight. Anne looked at Monique as she began.

"You see, when I started at Upperton U, I didn't really know anyone. I was born and raised in Go City, so I left my old friends and family behind. But Aunt Emily, and that's not Kim's real aunt, by the way, became my new best friend, since we roomed together. And she had a boyfriend, Henry, not Kim's real uncle either, who studied to be a surgeon with me, so we hung out all the time." Kim got a grasp on the sitch. This part, she had heard. Anne turned towards Kim again.

"Anyway, Henry and Emily had a friend, James, who was their best friend in high school; the three of them were sort of like you two and Ron. Anyway, James came over every two weeks or so, and we'd all hang out."

"And then he asked you out-" Kim started.

"No, honey. That came later. Anyway… James was a nice enough guy. He was smart, he didn't look to shabby… But I still couldn't see myself dating him. "Kim's eyes flew open again. "I was into the more… physically active kind of guy then. And besides, James was… Well, if you think his jokes can be corny now, you should have heard him then!" Kim chuckled a bit.

"He was… always talking about science, and, sure, it was interesting, but… it was just so… geeky. Even for a brain surgeon-to-be. He always talked about specifics, and numbers, and… I couldn't keep up. But then…" She smiled.

"What?" Kim and Monique said in unison.

"Well, we were at this party. Henry and Emily left without telling us, so James and I ended up walking to the dorms together, since he was going to stay at Henry's. And while we were walking, he started to talk about the stars… again. But this time… He talked about… Why he was so interested in them. How they made him feel when he looked at them." Anne paused, and sighed happily, remembering that night. Kim waited in suspense.

"I didn't fall in love with him there and then. That was still a few dates away. But I realized that I had missed that there was more to him than just numbers and obscure theories. There was joy, or passion and devotion. I had missed, essentially, one of the most important things about him, because I was just so used to seeing him as the stiff geek. He asked me out two weeks later, and while I don't know if I would have said no if we hadn't had that conversation, I know I wouldn't have fallen for him like I did." Kim sat still. Seeing her parents together, she never would have thought that there was a time that they weren't in love.

"So, Kim… I guess what I'm asking is… Have you seen something in Ron that you now know was there all along, but you somehow didn't manage to see before yesterday?" Monique held her breath as the question hung in the air.

"Yes", Kim replied softly. "I… If someone had asked if Ron would have done something like that… I would have said yes, without a doubt. And I would have done the same for him." She paused. "But he actually did it. And… No one said, you know, 'it's either Kim or you'. Eric didn't even threaten me openly. But Ron just… He just did it." She stared at her knees for a bit.

"I always knew that Ron was braver than everyone else seems to think. But to do something like that, to actually do it… It just… It blows my mind. He blows my mind." Anne and Monique's smiles almost reached their ears.

"But can I be sure? I don't wanna ruin our friendship, and if I'm wrong, or if he doesn't like me back…"

"Girlfriend, don't worry about that. I know you've been out of the Ron-loop for a few days, but trust me, he's got it bad." Kim stared at Monique. How could she have missed that? Because I was too busy staring at a syntho-drone to notice, the reply came back. The thought of Ron having feelings for her… felt good though. In fact, it felt spectacular.

"O- Ok… But… How do I know it's real? I've been feeling guilty about this whole sitch, and if I'm just being affectionate because of that, I can't…"

"No, you shouldn't be with Ron because you feel guilty. But I don't think that's what's going on, Kim. And I don't think you think that either." Anne smiled at her daughter. She was so proud that Kim had recognized how her view on Ron had changed. "If what you just told me is true… It's not guilt. It's something else entirely." Kim looked at her mother, then at Monique.

"How do you know this? I mean… Even I don't know this." Monique laughed at Kim's question.

"Haven't you ever wondered why we weren't really that surprised when you were crushing on Ron that time you were…. What was that? Moodulated? We were waiting for something like this, girl!"

"Oh, come on! You wouldn't believe Ron when he said that I was crushing! And dad, with his probe-talk, and yes, I've heard about that, so don't try to deny it!"

"Hey, I was surprised that it happened so fast, not that it happened!" Monique responded.

"And your dad was just being your dad. Monique's right. This… isn't really that big of a shock. So not the drama, hon." Anne said.

Kim stood up from the floor. She was shaking a bit.

"Ok… so… now I just have to go over to Ron, and… Yeah, this'll be interesting." She took a last look in the mirror. She still looked ok. As she turned to walk out the door, Monique spoke up.

"By the way, you said that this was you second worst conversation ever? What's the worst one?" Kim shrugged.

"Discussing what was ok to look at and touch when Ron and I switched bodies. Don't want to talk about it." As she stepped out of the bathroom, she heard her mother whisper to Monique.

"Well, if her father's ever going to be able to sleep at night, she'd better believe we're going to talk about what's ok to look at and touch again, I think." They were still laughing as Kim left the house.


	6. Scary

**Author's note: Ok, so, this is the last chapter! Thanks to all reviewers, love you all! I'm probably gonna leave this divergence after this and go back to my other series, but i hope you liked this one! And on another note, if you want to read about Kim's worst conversation ever, check out my fick _Worst Conversation Ever_. But now, one with the show!**

Dearest Ronald, as it is plain for everyone, including our dear friends and family to see, you and I should consider, to engage in a courtship, of course in a proper and responsible way.

No, too Jane Austen. The word 'dowry' might come up.

Hey Ron, I think we should go out some time. And not as friends but as partners in crime.

No, absolutely no rhyming. Plus, Ron gets scared around iambic pentameter.

Yo, Rondo! Why don't I just sit down in your lap, and we'll talk about the first thing that pops up?

No, NO!

Kim sighed as she was making her way to Ron's house. Ever since she had left her home, her mind had been racing, trying to find... some way of telling Ron how she felt. She hadn't gotten very far.

Should have stayed at home, she thought. Should have talked to mom and Monique some more. Should have gotten some advice on how to… how to do stuff like this. She stopped. How the hell did they even let her go on her way? They knew she was rubbish at this! Well, at least her mom knew, Monique hadn't seen how bad Kim had gotten when her crush on Josh Mankey was in full, embarrassing effect.

She began to walk again. She couldn't go back now. If she did, they'd just be angry and call her a coward or something. And she would be. As Kim reached Ron's house, she still didn't have a game plan. She stood outside the house, not yet ringing the bell. Come on, Possible, something! Anything!

Her thoughts were interrupted, however, when the door opened.

"Kim? Are you alright, hon?" Mrs. Stoppable stood in the door, looking at Kim with a confused look. She had noticed Kim standing on the steps, but since she hadn't rung the bell, she'd gotten up and opened it herself, curious.

"Ehh, well… Mrs. Stoppable, I was… I was just… Is Ron awake? I mean, he seemed pretty tired earlier, and I was just… You know, if he needs to sleep, I could… come back… later." Yeah, that's keeping cool. Good going, Kim. Mrs. Stoppable smiled.

"Well, he's asleep right now, but come in. He said he was just going to take a nap, we didn't expect you back so soon." Kim hesitated. She could leave and come back later. Surely everyone would understand? Coward.

"Ehh, ok, I'll just… go up and wake him", she said, and stepped in. Her heart beat as she walked up the stairs to Ron's room. She took a deep breath before she entered. As she stepped in, she saw Ron, sleeping on his bed. She smiled. No one could look this much at peace when sleeping. She leaned down and brushed away Ron's hair from his face.

Could he really be having feelings for me? Her mom and Monique had told her that he had. It felt… great to hear it, but Kim started to feel unsure. Could she really have missed that? Sure, she'd been a bit preoccupied the last few days, and Ron had acted a bit weird, but… She sighed. She wished she'd stayed and asked more about it. Because… while she wanted him to know… if he didn't have those feelings, and was just... jealing or scared of how her and Eric would affect her and Ron…

Do I have to tell him now, she thought. Is that really… I mean… We just had the fight yesterday, and he's got his injuries… Can't I wait? Just until tomorrow?

The voice that had called her a coward was silent. She took it as a good sign. She continued to look at Ron's sleeping form.

Ok, so… maybe not today. Tomorrow. Today homework, tomorrow kissy face. Hopefully. She walked over to Ron's desk and began to unload the books and papers they would need. She was done with most of it; she just had some of the history thing to do, and a couple of math problems. As she looked at Ron's homework, she noticed that, as expected, he hadn't started any of it yet. She frowned.

Just like Ron, she thought. Procrastinating 'til the last minute, if he could just once do things in good time, and he'd be… Ok, no knocking procrastination, Possible. Procrastination's our friend right now.

As she set things up on the desk, Rufus ran up.

"Hey, Rufus! You feeling ok?" Rufus nodded and smiled happily. "You had any nice cheese to eat?" Rufus licked his mouth at the mere mention of his favorite food.

"Uh-huh! Cheddar! And 'Zola!" Kim smiled. It took a special mind to give a nickname to gorgonzola, and Rufus had just the mind for it.

"Urrgh. Not 'Zola, please." Kim turned around, and saw Ron, as his eyes flickered open.

"Good morning sleepyhead! You ok? Ready for some homework?" her tone was a bit more chipper than she had hoped for.

"Ehh… Let me just wake up, and I'm all set", he said, as he sat up, slowly. Man, she was a sight for sore eyes, he thought. He still wasn't sure what he was going to do about his feelings, just that he hadn't yet decided what to do. Seemed like a good place to start.

* * *

Kim finished her remaining homework quickly, and sat down on Ron's bed. He still had a bit to go, but she was there if he needed her help, which he infrequently did. 

She observed him, sitting in contemplation. Without even noticing, she took in how good he actually looked. Not as good as, say, Josh Mankey, but… somehow… he looked better than he had yesterday. Even with the injuries.

Her mom had been right. She had completely missed certain things about Ron. If only she could have seen some of them before Eric came along.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Ron's question pulled her out of her silent observation.

"Uhh… Nothing special. Keep working, you!"

"Naw, I think I need a break. These math problems are making my head spin. Well, it could be the pain killers, but I hope it's the math. Come on, now. What's on your mind?" Kim sighed. She really didn't want to talk about this right now. Well, she did, but… Gah!

"Oh, you know… How lousy I am with boys." Well, it was one way of putting the sitch in other words.

"Come on, KP, we talked about this. Drakken did everything he could to play you, you couldn't help it."

"I know, it's just… If I had been better with boys in general, maybe I could have… dated someone else", and by that I mean you, "instead of Eric."

"Ok, sure. Better how?" Kim frowned. She would have had to been better with Ron, not boys in general.

"I don't know… Maybe less of the kung fu hero image? That seems to scare them away." It was true; she had had this conversation with Monique earlier. Ron frowned, though. He knew that really wasn't it.

"I don't know, KP. I think it's something else." That caught Kim's attention.

"What do you mean?"

"Just…" He sighed. "Any guy who looks at you… If he has half a brain, he knows he's not gonna cut it. So he doesn't even try." Kim looked perplex as Ron continued. "That just leaves the guys who don't have half a brain. And those are the guys you don't fall for." Kim was unsure. Could this be why boys didn't ask her out? Really?

"Think about it, Kim. Who were the last two guys to make any kind of attempt before Eric showed up?"

"Well… I guess… Ben Whatley said something two weeks ago… But guys like him are the reason bathroom stall walls and magic markers were invented. So not gonna happen… The other one…" She had to think about that one. "Ron Reiger, I think." Ron's good eye widened. Reiger? Kim noticed his confusion. "At least, I think so… he said something… Can't remember what, but I think he was coming on to me." Ron smirked.

"See? Two guys without half a brain between them. One too used to thinking every girl will say yes, the other too used to girls saying no, but doesn't give a damn." He lost his smirk. He was getting a bit too close to the truth with this conversation. He thought about what Kim had said about her scaring guys off.

"Did you really think that you were scaring guys off with the kung fu thing?" Kim nodded. He sighed. "Kim… don't think that there's anything wrong with you just because guys won't ask you out. You're smart, caring, pretty…" He began to blush a bit while saying the last. Damnit, to close again. "It's us guys who's got the problem, not you." Alright, enough. Math as you've never mathed before, so you can get out of this.

Kim contemplated his words. It… it made some sense. But was it really better that guys weren't asking her out because they put her on some pedestal than her scaring them off? If this was why Ron was afraid to say something, which it had to be…. It wasn't better at all.

"Ron..." She said, softly. Ron looked up from his homework again. "Is… What you said just know… About me being smart and… pretty?" Now she blushed, thinking of how great it felt that Ron thought of her as pretty. "You think I'm all that?"

In his mind, voices were shouting at him. On the table, out of Kim's view, he saw Rufus gesturing at him to say something. He shrugged, but didn't speak.

"But I'm not! I'm… I'm not some… mythical… heroine! Sure, I save the world, and I've got smarts, but… I'm your basic average girl otherwise!" Ron raised his uninjured eyebrow, in lieu of talking. Kim continued when she saw him doubting her. "I mean… I'm not perfect! I've got issues!"

"Well, your good sides tend to block the bad ones out", Ron said. Ron looked back at his math. Don't get into this. When he looked down, he saw Rufus standing there holding up a post-it, with the words 'KIZ HUR!" scribbled on it. He grabbed the note, crumpled it up and threw it away. Rufus looked unhappy at his actions. Or rather, inaction.

Kim sighed, and lay down on Ron's bed. So… Guys don't wanna go out with me because they think I'm perfect? God, if I had known…

"I hate Bonnie", she suddenly said, after a couple of minutes. Ron looked back at her.

"Well… ok… Are you just random now? Can I be too?" He smiled as Kim nodded. "I hate meat cakes!" He yelled, causing Kim to laugh. They laughed together for a moment before Kim spoke again.

"It's just… One of her 'cheerleader rules'. You know, like 'cheerleaders don't get detention?" Ron nodded, remembering the flak Kim had gotten for getting stuck there that time. "Well,", Kim continued, "another rule was 'cheerleaders don't ask boys out. Boys ask cheerleaders out'." She sighed.

"If I'd known guys thought about me like that… I would've asked them out instead of waiting for them to ask me out. But then Bonnie and her stupid rules would have held me back, just the same." Ron smiled.

"Well, now you know better. And besides, it's like you said. You're lousy with boys, KP. Another thing to overcome."

"Sure, but… all those years… thinking something was wrong with me…" Ron looked sad as he heard her. Don't start talking about all the guys you could have dated, please. I don't think I can take that.

"All those years of listening to the girls talking about their dates… I could've had that if I'd just… opened my eyes and dared to ask."

"Hey, hey, KP, it's ok… It'll get better… you'll find the one." Or maybe, you've already have, he thought.

Or maybe I already have, she thought as she smiled. "The ONE? Really, Ron… If you heard those girls… I wouldn't have kept up with just one the one. I think Emma's up to twenty ones in three years." She chuckled.

"Really strange how they all find… I don't know how many guys they think they can have a future with and I've just found one-" Oh… Oh god. Did... Did I really say that? I did! Oh my… Calm down, Kim, you can get out of this.

Ron, on his end, sat frozen… There… there was someone? Someone besides Eric? Who was she talking about? Of course. He turned away.

"Uhh… really, Kim? I… I didn't know you… thought about Josh that way…" His speech petered out.

Kim sat up. What? Josh? "No, not Josh", she heard herself say. "You." Oh god. She… She was supposed to wait!

Ron sat frozen. What… What had she just said? What was she saying? As he tried to talk, Rufus ran back up on the table, holding the restored note. This time, he had underlined the message thrice.

"You… You mean that time you were moodulated, right?"

Kim was trying to get a hold of herself. With Ron's question she had a chance to back down. But… it was too late for that, wasn't it? She felt… relieved somehow.

"No." Ron's head slowly turned toward her. He met her gaze, and for a minute they could only stare at each other. Suddenly, Kim stood up, walked over to the desk and leaned down until there were only inches of air between their faces.

"I mean now, Ron", she said softly. She gently placed her hands on both sides of his face, making especially sure she wasn't to rough on his injured side. With that, she closed the gap between them, uniting herself with Ron in an absolutely fantastic kiss. It sent shivers down their spines, made their hairs stand on end and their toes curl.

Neither of them could later say how long the kiss lasted, only that it seemed to last… not long enough.

Ron tried to speak, but he couldn't get the words out. He simply breathed as he watched her blush. She knew he was in too big of a shock to speak, so she decided to speak instead.

"Ron… I know I've been acting strange around you today. I didn't even realize it myself until two hours ago that it was because I…. Because I'm feeling something totally new. And I… I hope that you do too." Ron's head was swimming in confusion, but somehow, he managed to nod.

"Why didn't you tell me earlier? Was it because of the pedestal thing?" Ron struggled to regain his ability to speak. His eyes darted to the table, where he saw Rufus holding up a new post it. TELLL HUR! Rufus' smile was as big as if he was in cheese heaven.

"I… Yes. And because… Because I was afraid that… that it'd damage our friendship if I said anything." Kim's eyes were watering as he spoke.

"Yeah, because we've failed so miserably at holding that together the last 12 years." She smiled as she felt the tears escaping her eyes down her cheeks. Ron's good eye was tearing up as well. He chuckled.

"Yeah, but, I mean… I'd rather have you as a friend than risk everything on a long shot. Sorry. And… I noticed that you were acting... weird, but I thought that it was because you were feeling guilty about yesterday." Kim bit her lip.

"Yeah, I thought so too. Briefly. And maybe I played the video game because of that. But Ron? This is not because I'm feeling guilty." She leaned in again, and the kissed once more.

After a good fifteen minutes, Ron leaned out of their 15th, 26th or 31st kiss, depending on how you counted.

"As much as I want to continue this… I'm feeling a bit light-headed. Well, more so." Kim smiled.

"You wanna go to bed", she asked, and, realizing what she had said, began to blush. "I… I mean sleep, do you want to sleep?" Ron chuckled.

"Yeah, I think… I probably should. I don't want to, but…"

"Ok. You just lie down." She got up from her chair, and led Ron to his bed. They lay down next to each other, as they'd done at the hospital.

"You just get some rest. I'll be here when you wake up", she said and kissed him gently on his cheek. They lay in silence for a few moments.

"Ron?" Ron turned his head towards her. "I… I don't wanna scare you or anything… But… But I think… I think I might… possibly… love you." Ron smiled.

"I think I might possibly love you too, Kim." She kissed him again, and leaned her head against his shoulder. As she felt him fall asleep. She smiled giddily, wondering what they would do when he woke up.

And on the table, unseen, Rufus finished writing his last post-it. He fished out the kimmunicator from Kim's backpack, muted the volume and turned it on. Wade was confused at first, but eventually got the message. Rufus clicked off the kimmunicator; while Wade began calling everyone he could think of who'd want to know.

And on the table lay a message Kim and Ron would later see and laugh at, and would eventually place in an album with other memorabilia from their lives and missions.

'KIM LUVS RON. RON LUVS KIM. I WON POOL. U OWES MI STILTON.'


End file.
